Is this edible or poisonous? Is this a lily?

[meforage]

I live in the mediterranean.
I saw something that looked edible.
Don't worry, I didn't eat it because I can't be sure.

What plant is this?

It looks like a lily, which is edible (right?). But is it a lily or a poisonous dafodil?

[Millymollymandy]

It's not a daffodil, the leaves look more like an orchid to me, although I don't know if they have bulbs as well as roots.

I hope you're not just digging up wild plants willy nilly on the offchance that they may be edible.

What part of the Med are you in, as lillies will generally be dormant right now, but I don't know about the warmer parts of the Med such as Africa. It doesn't look like a lily to me but there may be varieties that I don't know about.

[MKG]

I've seen quite a few Mediterranean markets in my time, but I've never seen anything like that for sale. Your plant looks quite substantial, though, so I'm guessing that if it was edible you'd certainly find it in one of those markets. Conclusion - it's either inedible or not worth eating.

Mind you, I haven't seen EVERY market, so I may be completely wrong.

Mike

[meforage]

Lol, I didn't just randomly dig up whatever plants I came across. I was on a nature hike and I'd read about some lilies being edible, that looked about right, but then when I saw it had a bulb, I wasn't sure...
I'm in Israel.

[Millymollymandy]

OK I don't know anything about the flora of Israel but I guess it doesn't get too cold there in winter? No I don't know anything about the climate much either . Lillies do have bulbs but they don't as far as I'm aware have foliage like that. Have you tried googling med/israeli bulbs to look for piccies which might give you a clue? It still looks very much like orchid foliage. Also are there any forums similar to this based in the med/middle east which might be able to help more? I don't think we have any members in Israel although someone joined recently from Cyprus which is more your neck of the woods than the rest of us! Good luck and if you do find out what it is please let us know!

[gregorach]

I would tend to assume that any wild plant with a large, nutritious-looking bulb or root is likely to have some sort of chemical defences, or it would get eaten by something. It's not a hard and fast rule, and many wild plants which do have defences can still be eaten if you know how to prepare them properly, but it's pretty good rule of thumb.

[MKG]

Well, I found this which looks pretty comprehensive ...

http://www.wildflowers.co.il/english/about.asp

... but I haven't spotted it yet.

Mike

[meforage]

Turns out its a squill. Medicinal squill. And apparently its a diurrhetic if used in small quantities, but is toxic in large quantities. Aka sea onion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urginea_maritima

[Millymollymandy]

That's interesting, glad you found out and thanks for letting us know!